


The Sea Calls to Wanderers

by Captains_Orders



Category: Tales of Berseria
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Drinking, Eventual Smut, Friends to Lovers, Language, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pirates, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-31
Updated: 2018-01-31
Packaged: 2019-03-08 21:52:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13467297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Captains_Orders/pseuds/Captains_Orders
Summary: 'A pirate’s first love is the sea, but the second is free.'Eizen gets swept up with a group of pirates where he learns the true meaning of freedom, and the infamous captain Aifread falls in love with a Reaper.





	The Sea Calls to Wanderers

**Author's Note:**

> I recently finished Tales of Berseria and found myself pretty invested with Eizen and Aifread's dynamic throughout the game and was more than a little dissapointed to see 0 ship fics when I was done crying after their reunion. So I decided to fix that. If there's one thing I'm weak for it's pirates, and I just couldn't let the potential go untouched. 
> 
> Honestly I thought I was stuck in rarepair hell with some of the shit I write but this is a whole new circle and I stake my claim here on this husk of a town with this single meager offering. 
> 
> Updates will be pretty slow because other projects have priority, but I do have more than a few chapters in mind. 
> 
> No beta, that's my creed.  
> (not really I'm just a piece of shit)

Moonlight dances across the waves where they rock calm and steady against the hull of the Van Eltia, a fine fog adding a certain softness to the air. Eizen shifts where he’s perched on a yard leaning up against the ship’s main mast, his usual spot, while he looks out to sea. Above him he can hear the sailor on watch duty snoring in the crow’s nest, having dozed off some time ago. It was a calm night, interrupted only by his own thoughts and the sailor’s snoring. There was a prickling feeling at the back of his neck though, and Eizen knows the peace can’t last. Something catches his eye out in the distance as he simply stares off and counts stares, and Eizen squints in an attempt to bring it into focus. All he can tell from where he sits is that there is definitely something large out on the water, a dark shape with no notable features he can see. He stands, movements easy and graceful after years on the ship and leans forward with one hand clutched around the nearby rigging. Whatever the thing is it was still too far off to tell, though it was definitely getting closer, slow as the going may be. He needed a better vantage point, so with a well practiced jump Eizen leaps to the main mast and climbs the rest of the way to the crow’s nest, perching on the rail to avoid stepping on the sleeping sailor. Even from the highest point of the ship Eizen can’t make out any details with the fog and moonlight, so he snatches the spyglass from the loose fingers of the sailor beneath him with naught but a long snorting snore in response and brings it up to his eye. 

A ship, smaller than the Van Eltia, drifts closer over the waves, rather inconspicuous if they weren’t so far out at sea and the hour so late. Eizen looks as hard as he can, but it's impossible to catch much detail, so he waits, unable to do anything else. When the ship is close enough to see in some detail without the use of the spyglass Eizen replaces the old worn tool to the sailor’s open hand and continues to track it's movement with every ounce of suspicion. Then, perhaps predictably, the ship’s sails rise up as one to give it a burst of speed in the light wind of the night, and the black flag that was hiding before now flurs high. Pirates. Over his many years aboard the ship that had long since become his vessel, Eizen had seen it change hands more times than he cared to count. There was no escaping his curse, not for anyone, and it seemed this latest crew of the Van Eltia was about to meet the same grizzly fate as those who had come before. 

For a long minute there is nothing but the quiet creaking of the deck bellow and the sound of the sea. Abruptly the watchman wakes with a sudden wheezing cough, which absolutely had nothing to do with the small gust of wind Eizen had summoned beneath his nose. In a daze the man jerks up, rubbing at his eyes and muttering before standing on legs that still hadn’t caught up with the wakefulness of his body. He stands there almost in a trance, gaping out ahead of the ship for a few precious seconds before he begins shouting. Confident the crew had some awareness and could keep the Van Eltia from a watery grave, and in addition, himself, Eizen returns to his perch on the yard and waits. 

The pirates reach them before the full crew can even reach the deck, unprepared as they were no thanks to their poor watchman and invisible companion of misfortune. The sailors, one of the many navy crews Eizen had seen come and go, mutter about pirates, ghosts, and bad luck as they draw their swords and wait to be boarded. There’s no time to load the cannons and fight back with the full fire power of the Van Eltia and they all know it, but still it's miserable, and Eizen as always wonders how many of these men will die thanks to his curse. All is still in the fog, and then the clanking starts as the pirate crew casts out their hooks to catch the Van Eltia’s railing and bring them close enough to board. Crushing silence lasts for a heartbeat, and then with a rallying shout like thunder the pirates make it onto the deck. Steel clashes against steel as blades meet and part as men shout and die. As capable as the navy crew is, they stand no chance against these pirates, it's painfully obvious. Eizen watches as the man he assumes to be the captain of the enemy crew spins across the deck, long purple coat flaring and catching the moonlight as he takes down seasoned sailors left and right with unprecedented ease. A broad brimmed hat obscures his face, but Eizen can tell from the distance that the man kills in silence, starkly different from the pirate captains he’d seen before who laughed and jeered as they went about their butchery. Then the pirate meets the navy captain in the middle of the deck and the rest of the scuffles fizzle out as they all turn their attention to their leaders. 

“I’ve always viewed myself as a reasonable man,” the pirate captain begins, arms outstretched almost mockingly. “So I'm going to give you two options.” Eizen drops down onto the upper deck, away from the conflict, but now close enough to see what’s going on, his curiosity getting the better of him. “First, you and your crew can surrender and spare us all the trouble, we’ll even throw in our old ship for good measure. Or secondly, we keep fighting and see what’s left.” The pirate’s back is to Eizen, but he sees the Van Eltia’s current captain, a grizzled older man and decorated veteran, go from stark anger to weak defeat as he drops his sword and raises his arms above his head. 

“Surrender, men! There’s no need for further bloodshed.” 

“You’re a wise man, captain, I’m glad we could settle this the easy way,” The pirate mock bows, pulling his hat off with a flourish and dipping low. “Alright men, get to work! Make sure this swap goes smoothly!” He turns then, just enough for Eizen to catch a glimpse of his face, and he’s shocked by how young he appears, no older than his own physical appearance. Of all the pirates and sailors he’s seen over the years there’s never been a captain who wasn’t at least starting to grey at the temples, or had already gone white of hair like the now former captain of the Van Eltia. 

His observation is cut short when the pirate turns his head towards the stern of the ship, and he swears their eyes meet across the deck. The pirate pauses, but he breaks his gaze quickly, and Eizen isn’t so sure he was seen so much as the grand wheel of the Van Eltia because the pirate captain returns to barking orders at his crew without a second glance. Just as well, Eizen thinks, it's for the best if he remains unseen. 

It takes less than half an hour for the switch to be made, and surprisingly without any fool attempts at bravery on the navy’s side. The crew takes their defeat with their heads held high, even as the pirates strip their own ship of weapons and ammunition. Eizen leans against the railing of the upper deck and watches it happen, unbothered when an older pirate makes his way up the stairs and escorts the old sailor away from the helm before returning to take control of the wheel. There’s a cocksure confidence in the movement of every pirate scuttling about the ship, working like a well oiled machine. It’s the sort of thing not often seen amongst crews, at least those Eizen has seen come and go on the Van Eltia. That sort of organization and camaraderie, the genuine enjoyment and surprising lack of cruelty he can see on the faces of the pirates, speaks of a rare breed of loyalty, and an even rarer breed of pirate. He doesn’t even notice how his gaze lands on the pirate captain once again, eyes boring into the man’s back. 

“You may be taking our ship,” the old captain says as he, the last to go, gets ready to depart for the smaller ship. “But be warned, she’s haunted, and nothing good has ever come from being aboard her.” The pirate captain throws his head back and laughs. 

“Aifread’s Pirates fear nothing on sea or land, don’t think we’d be scared away by a few ghost stories.” 

“Your funeral then, it's what you pirates deserve.” The old man spits at the pirate’s feet and disappears over the side of the ship. 

“Alright you dogs! Let’s get ourselves sorted! Set a course for Port Zekson, we’ll need to resupply, and I believe a celebration is in order, the Van Eltia is ours!” Now free of their royal burden the new crew of the Van Eltia let out a cheer as they go about their duties as the moon starts to wane. Eizen turns away.

As the night begins to fade Eizen returns to how he’d started his evening, by staring out to sea and generally ignoring the hustle of the crew. Now of course the crew was made up of pirates, but all things considered he supposes they could have been worse. Blood does not stain the fair wooden decks of the Van Eltia, and those few who had died did so with honor. His cure wasn’t usually so kind. So Eizen leans over the railing at the stern of the ship, rigging in hand so he can lean over the edge, tempting fate while he watches the stars dim as the pale orange dawn creeps across the horizon. 

“I take it you must be the resident ghost?” Eizen whirls around, eyes wide as they take in the captain, who chuckles softly at his surprise. 

“You can see me?”

“I thought that much was obvious,” he replies with a grin, amber eyes gleaming in the light of the rising sun. Eizen has no idea how to respond, the fact that a human could see him was always a shock in and of itself, but the man’s casualness about the whole thing wasn’t close to any sort of typical reaction. He says as much.

“Most humans don’t react that way when they see a malak.”

“I suppose not,” he shrugs. “But I’ve seen my fair share over the years. You’re not so different from us humans.”

“Might change your opinion when you experience the Reaper’s Curse.”

“Is that what that old man was muttering about when he mentioned this ship being bad luck?” Eizen nods and looks away.

“Aye, it's not the ship, it's me.” He sighs, looking out across the ocean without really seeing it, trying to keep his thoughts from wandering too far. 

“It’ll take more than some bad luck to scare these pirates away. And to be fair you were here first” Eizen looks back at him and his easy smile, not a hint of fear in his eyes. 

“You’re really something else,” Eizen mutters, not even close to complimentary. “And a damn fool at that.” The man throws his head back and laughs, rich and carefree.

“I could say the same of you,” he replies once his laughter fades, a cheeky grin still in place. 

‘Idiot,” he grumbles, but the insult doesn’t deter his companion in the least.

“Aifread actually, Captain Aifread of Aifread’s Pirates and scourge of the seas. This idiot has a name.” Of course after so many years at sea, Eizen had heard of him in passing, but the man standing before him now was nothing like what he’d imagined. A human with enough resonance to see malakhim, a pirate no less, and Eizen couldn’t sense an ounce of malevolence from him anyone aboard the ship. Though he supposed now he had time to figure it out, if his curse didn’t kill them all terribly first. 

“Eizen,” he replies, not sure why he even bothers to give his name. “Ghost of the Van Eltia and resident Reaper.” 

“Good to meet you Eizen.” And shockingly the man pats him on the back, a jarring feeling so unfamiliar Eizen almost stumbles. “I hope you like adventure.” Before he can reply there’s the deep sound of someone clearing their throat, and they both turn towards the wheel.

“Everything alright, Cap’n?” The older man at the helm casts his captain a thinly veiled look of concern as he watches him apparently talk to himself. 

“Aye, Wilfred, just admiring the view.” Aifread has the audacity to wink at him, and Eizen sputters, unable to form a response before Aifread pushes away from the railing and makes his way to the helm, taking the wheel from his crewman and exchanging a few words regarding their course. 

Eizen retreats back up to the upper rigging of the Van Eltia, needing time to process the sudden reality that after years of solitude amidst the former crews, someone could see and speak to him. He wasn’t used to any of this, almost overwhelmed by the sudden change but too stubborn to admit it to himself. His thoughts drift, as they often do, to Edna so far away, and he distracts himself by composing his next letter to her in his head. 

Dear Sister, it would read, my vessel the Van Eltia has been taken by pirates. Not a great opening line, she’d worry, but Eizen has never been particularly good with words. How would the next line go? Something comforting. They don’t seem that bad actually, there’s less malevolence hovering around them then some of the navy crews I’ve seen come and go. Don’t worry about me. Great save there, idiot. He huffs at himself. The Captain can see me and I don’t know what to do about it... Alright, so he’d need to go through some revisions before he put quill to paper, but it was a start. Below him on the main deck the laughter from the pirates morphs into a shanty Eizen had never heard and a sense of peace washes over the ship, as if everything had set itself to rights despite the early morning’s upheaval. 

Things could be worse, Eizen thinks as he tilts his head back to watch the clouds drift above. Things could definitely be worse.


End file.
